


Speak

by orphan_account



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Blupjeans Week, F/M, First Meetings, Minor Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), bluejeans week 2018, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 02:30:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14802677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Barry has a hard time speaking his minds sometimes. even out with his friends, he struggles to get in a word.for blupjeans week 2018 day four





	Speak

**Author's Note:**

> I've been doing drawings so far for blupjeans week and I thought I'd mix it up a little today.  
> edit: cleaned it up a little

Barry is good at many things: he is a straight-A student, he dm’s every other Thursday for the d&d club, he already is getting offers from different universities for his academic work. although he is so happy to have all of these things, there is one thing that he is good at, That he really doesn’t like being good at. it is somewhat simple but it annoys him to no end: He is a great wrestler.

You may be thinking why is it a bad thing to be good at something? And generally it isn’t, it's just that Barry doesn’t like wrestling. It just comes to him so naturally. Maybe it is because he is the third child out of five. Perhaps it is because of his father taking him go to martial arts lessons since he was old enough to walk. Maybe it is genetics or something else entirely, but Barry is very good at wrestling and fighting in general because of that. He really doesn’t like doing it through fighting or wrestling. He would like to think of himself as a passivist in any other situation, but he has been on the westering team since he started high school. He is the second-best on the team. though coach says he could be the best if he just applied himself. but Barry doesn't care anymore, and his best friend is the best on the team and Barry is totally okay with that.

That friend is a year younger than Barry by a year.  If you look at him, you would see the embodiment of a jock stereotype. Though, if you spend more then five minutes with him you will know that, that stereotype is quite literally only skin deep.

“Hay!” speaking of the devil, Barry looks across the gym and sees Magnus trying to wave him down.  They are both still drenched in sweat from practice, and Barry’s arms are still shaking from his last match, but he gives a friendly wave and walks over to Magnus. Magus smiles and asks once Barry gets close enough “hay, I was thinking, me and a couple of friends of mine were going to go to that new Mexican place, down the street. He says he needs to go and try his namesake.”

Barry blinked a couple of times, trying to understand what magus just said.  “who are you going with?”

    “ya know Taako,” Magnus says easily as if he didn’t just say they were going out with the most popular kid in school. Like if you were to think Magnus was a jock cliché, Taako was the biggest prep cliché there is. Barry tended to avoid the guy, he knew some of the people that surrounded Taako weren’t the nicest of the bunch. Some of them are flat-out bullies, but Magnus is also Taako’s friend. And Magnus is literally the nicest person Barry knows.

“Lup and Kravitz are also coming,” Magnus continues, Barry knows Kravitz pretty well, he comes to d&d club often, not regularly, but often enough that he knows the guy.  Barry thinks for a moment, before saying “I gotta text my folks let them know, but yea I’d like to do that.”

Magnus’ already wide smile spreads even more, and he claps Barry on the back before they both head to the locker room. It doesn’t take long to shower and change into their street clothes.  Magnus tells him that everyone should be there by the time they get to the restaurant, trying but failing to ease the slowly growing anxiety in Barry’s gut.

The walk isn’t far, and it is pleasant out, but the slowly growing social anxiety is starting to take its toll on Barry.  They walk into the restaurant and make a b-line for the corner booth the rest of the people were already sitting at.  The three people Magnus said would be there, were there. Kravitz gives a small wave when they enter, and Barry waves back. Kravitz looks strangely relaxed, from what Barry can remember the guy had just as much anxiety as he did in situations like this. But then Barry sees that Kravitz's other hand is currently being held by Taako and the way they are gently leaning into each other.  Taako is sitting between Kravitz and the other person at the table. He is poking at the bole of salsa at the table with a chip, lip curled slightly, and eyes narrowed. The last person is obviously Taako’s twin sister, Barry knows her even less then Taako, they do have AP chemistry together, but she sits at the back of the room while he sits towards the front. 

“brick shithouse!” Taako says and pats the seat next to Kravitz. Barry isn’t sure what that means, but apparently, Magnus understands as he darts over to the open seat.  Taako whispers something into Magnus’s ear over Kravitz’s lap. All three glance over to Lup for a split second and she just glares daggers back at them.

“Barrold, why don’t you go and sit next to my sister,” Taako says with his usual charm “she doesn’t bite unless you ask her to.”

Lup punches Taako in the shoulder with the last remark, and Barry is starting to feel very uncomfortable about this whole situation. He hates feeling like the odd man out, and right about now he feels like a fifth wheel. Lup rolls her eyes and scoots over a few inches and pats the spot beside her.  Barry takes a deep breath and sits down.

The evening goes about as well as Barry expected it to go. Sure, he is having a nice time, and it seems like everyone else is as well. But he just feels like such an outsider in the group. He knows how loud Magnus can be, but Taako seems to be able to match it in some respects in the conversations. It is mostly just those two leading the conversations, not to say Lup or Kravitz don’t speak, they do especially Lup. They just more interject with their own opinions and takes on the different stories, they know when it is their turn in the conversations. Barry, on the other hand, struggles to get a single thought in during the loud conversations. So By the time their meals are brought out, Barry has more or less given up trying to speak.

“so, what about you Barry” Lup’s voice breaks Barry out of his wandering thoughts. He glances up and sees that the table has quieted and that everyone was looking at him as he poked his refried beans with his fork. Luckily he was half-listening to the conversation, unluckily he was only half-listening to the conversation.

“what am I going to do once I graduate?” He makes sure he understood. When no one responds he figures it was the right question “uh, I don’t know probably college? Most likely OSU or U of M.”

“what about that guy that came to see you from Chicago?” Magnus asks, Barry hoped that he hadn’t remembered that particular practice.

“y-yea they want me to go for wrestling,” Barry says rubbing the back of his neck “my dad really wants me to take that one.”

“dude that’s rad!” Magnus says not seeing how uncomfortable Barry is “he came and talked to me about it as well, but I got I don’t think I'm going to go to college.”

Magnus goes on his story about how he is going to go work for a craftsman and get trade skills rather than a diploma.  Barry tries to listen, he really does, but some part of himself liked talking to the group, like having everyone’s attention, even for the brief moment.  He lets his body slump slightly as he goes back to poking at his food absentmindedly.

“is that what you want to do?” Lup asks in a quiet tone “do wrestling I mean?”

“not really,” Barry says under Magnus’s stories “I mean- I don’t know, damn.”

Barry takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes “I have a half-ride for OSU, for biochem degree that I really want to go for, but the wrestling scholarship is a full ride.”

“yea but what do you want to do?” Lup asks again.

“honestly?” Barry starts then takes a deep breath “I fucking hate wrestling, dad said it would make me more of a man. But I don’t like fighting? I like being strong and being able to defend myself, but-“

Barry trails off losing his train of thought. He pushes down the growing lump in his throat and anger in his stomach.  He cant get emotional here, not with all these other people around him.

“you talk to Krav’ about that?” Lup asks Barry looks up with a questioning look. Lup stammers for a moment “it’s just he’s kind of in the same boat, he wants to be a musician, but his folks are prepping him to take over their business.”

Barry winces, knowing that Kravitz’s parents own a funeral parlor. Barry does not envy that position.  He feels terrible for thinking his situation is bad now at least he some sort of choice, Kravitz may not even have that much.

“well if you do end up going to OSU, I might see you on campus,” Lup says with a smile “got a state ride after we sued their ass. But I'm good enough I would have gotten to go with my own smarts. Physics if you're wondering. Taako is going for a culinary degree, he’s so excited.”

Barry looks at Lup who is wistfully looking at her brother now. She has a small smile on her lips, and she blinks slowly. She brushes a strand of hair out of her face as she continues talking about the future. It isn’t like when Magnus took over the conversation, Barry knows he will get a chance to speak again, so he stays captivated in her speech.

 That moment could have been seconds or hours. It may just have been the exhaustion of the day or the light of the room. But at this moment, Barry had never seen anything more beautiful than the woman talking to him right now.

“shit! Sorry, I gotta go” Magnus says suddenly, breaking Barry out of his trance “Stevin, needs me to help at the shop tonight, almost completely forgot about that.”

Magnus lays some cash on the table before darting out of the restaurant. Kravitz glances at his watch and says, “I think I should get going here soon as well, I need to stop by the library, and grab a few things to study.”

“need help with that bones?” Taako asks as Kravitz starts to slip out of the booth. It just now hits Barry that they haven’t let go of each other’s hand through the whole night, which is mildly impressing thinking about Taako having to eat tacos with only his non-dominate hand.

“I would love it,” Kravitz says with a smile. They pay with a card up at the cash register.  As they leave Lup yells at the top of her lungs, making sure everyone in the bar hears her “make sure to use protection!”

Taako just flips her off over his shoulder, while Kravitz looks at her in horror. A few people glance at the door where the couple are leaving, but most turn to see where the shout came from. To Lup and by extension Barry. He feels his cheeks warm enough to cook an egg on.  But people go back to their business quick enough, leaving Barry and Lup sitting alone in the booth.

Lup goes for her bag and Barry starts to stand.  He can feel the question on the tip of his tong. He wants to ask her, but can’t seem to find the courage.  She slides out of the booth and heads towards the cashier; while Barry digs a few bucks out of his wallet. Barry finishes before Lup does, but he stands by the door waiting for her to get her receipt.  She walks over and thanks him for holding the door for her.

Barry feels like he is drowning, so he gulps in a deep breath and says a little too loudly “doyouwantmetowalkyouhome?”

Lup blinks a couple times as Barry takes another deep breath and tries again. This time with slightly more composure “would you like me to walk you home? I-it’s totally okay if you don’t want me to, it’s just that-“

Barry keeps on talking, he wants to stop, but now that the floodgates have opened his mouth won’t stop moving.  He speaks for what feels like hours, but in reality is less than five minutes, he shuffles as he speaks, never quite making eye contact with Lup as he babels. He finally stops when he feels a slender hand touch his shoulder and he finally looks up.

Lup is smiling gently and just says “yes I would like that very much.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact the taako eating tacos with his nondominant hand is loosely based on when I went out with my sister and her BF, they held hands through the whole meal, and she had to struggle to eat with her left hand. I was mesmerized, and I think I was the only person to notice ( I don't even think my sister noticed when she was doing it).  
> anyway thanks for reading my work, this was kind of a therapy piece for me as well, so that was nice. if you want you can come and say hi to me on tumblr (thedegu.tumblr.com) or if you really want to you can buy me a tea at (http://ko-fi.com/D1D3894A)  
> anyway thanks for reading my work!


End file.
